Packing-machine.



J. MERRITT.

PACKING MACHINE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED AUG. 1s, 190s.

936,792. Patented 0ct.12,19o9. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. MERRITT. PAOKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FIIED AUG. 18, 1908.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

J. MERRITT. PACKING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 18

Patented 0Gt.12,19o9.

a SHEETS-SHEET s'.

. 6 5206722 fon ma ma JOSEPH MERRITT, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

?ACKINGMACHINE.

To all whom 'itmay co'lwerm.

Be it known'A that I, JosnrH' Mnnnrrr, al

citizen of-the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of'Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Packing-Machine, of which the following isla specification.

This invention relates to a machine which is particularly adapted for packing flour into paper sacks, but which also is serviceable for packing ground, crushed or whole seeds,

cereals, gram, sugar, cement, lamp-black,

graphite, and other powdered, pulverized, occulent and granular substances into iiexi ble or rigid sacks, bags, kegs, barrels, boxes and packages of .various forms and sizes made of paper, woven fabric, wood, metal and other materials. y

The object of the invention is to provide a comparatively simple, inexpensive and rapidly operating machine which will pack into a sack or other receptacle of pa er or other material powdered or nely divided substances without causing boiling, that is the blowing of some of the substance being packed out of the top of the receptacle, and without causing collapse and iiuiiing,

I that is, without causing the receptacle to contract so that it clings tothe packing spout and spills the substance when -removed therefrom.

-verized, fiocculent or granular substance into a paper sack or other receptacle, and a packing spout containing such means which is so constructed that air. ducts are provided around the packing means which allow the ready outflow of air expelled from vthe substance as it is packed in the receptacle so as to eliminate boiling and also allow the free iniiow of air when the receptacle and packing apparatus are separated so as to prevent collapse and eliminate iiuiiing the means which provide the air ducts being utilized, in some forms Vof the invention, to prevent the substance from whirling around in the sack under the' influence of the currents produced by the rotation of lthe packing means, and being utilized, in other forms, Yto prevent the substance from packing solidly and turning around in the spout with the convcyer' instead of being advanced thereby.. Y

Figure 1- ofthe accompanying drawings shows a front elevation of the machine which Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led August 18, 1908. Seriai No. 449,008.

Patented oet. 12, 1909.

embodies this invention with a sack in lling position. Fig. 2 shows a side elevatiorr-n of the same machine without a sack. Fig., 3 shows a central vertical section on' somewhat larger scale of a sack and packmg means which embodies this invention. Fig. 4 shows a similarY section of the sack and acking -means provided with a modified orm of packing spout. Fig.vv 5 is a sectional view illustrating the flow of flour at the beginning of packing into a sack by the packing machines of this type in common use. Fig. 6 is -a sectional view illustrating the boiling action ofl iiour being packed by the common prior machines. Fig. -7 is a section illustrating the action caused by the prior machines known as collapse of thesack and iuiiin of the iour when the sack is withdrawnl rom the packing spout. Fig.' 8 is a section illustrating the same action when the sack is practically withdrawn from the packing spout. Fig. 9 is a sectional view illustrating the flow when a sack is beginning to be packed by a machine which elnbodles this invention. Fig. 10 is a similar view showing the action when the sack is partly filled. Fig. 11 isa similar vi'ew illusi Fig. 12 is a similar view showing the actionl when the sack is filled and is almost separat'ed'from thc packing spout. Fig. 13 shows a horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by the line 13-13 on Fig. 3. Fig. 14 is a horizontal section of themodified form shown in Fig. 4 taken on the plane indicated by thel liuc 1li-14 on that figure. Fig. `15fis a plan of a thimble that is thrust into the lower end of the form'of packing spout shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 16 is a side view of the thimble. Fig. 17 is a view, with a part inr side elevation and apart in central section, of the upper end of the packing'spout and its head.

The frame of the lnachinc s hou'n has upright supports 1 which may be made of wood or metal as desired, and movable vertically between these suplports-is agate 2 which is provided with a p atform 3, upon which the sackli or other receptacle to be filled is placed. The gate which carries this platform is guided in its movements up and down by wheels 5 that travel between the upright supports on each side. This gate isl connected with a counter-balancing weight 6 by a rope 7 which is wound around a pulley 8 that is fastened on a horizontal shaft 9 and platform with an empty sack, when not otherwise held, to be lifted so the packing spout will project into the sack.

Fastened on the shaft bearing 'the counterbalance pulley is a drum 10 about which passes a friction band 11 that is connected with the arm 12 of a lever 13 movable along which is a friction weight 14. Underlnormal conditions the friction'band is drawn by its lever and weight sufficiently tight to bind the drum with the shaft and counter-balance pulle so that the counter-balance wei ht w' Y not lift the gate and platform, in act, the friction and counter balance weight are suiiicient to support the gate, platform and a lled sack on the platform. A rod 1 5 connects an end of the friction lever with a treadle 16 that is mounted near the -ioor convenient to the foot of the operative. `This connection is so made that when the treadle is depressed the friction band is loosened and the drum released, thenV the counter-balance weight will lift the gate and platform with an em ty sack.

Mounted at the top of the frame is a hopper 17 into which the flour orl other su stance to be packed into the sack or other package is allowed to How. This hopper may be formed of galvanized iron or any other suitable material, and attached to its lower end is an outlet which has a tapering head 18 and a cylindrical spout 19 that is somewhat smaller in diameter than the sack t0 be filled. In the form of the invention first illustrated by the accompanying drawlngs the spout is provided on itse'xterior. wlth outwardly projecting ribs 20.' yThese rlbs preferably extend longitudinally of the Spout although not necessarily continuous from head to mouth, and some are made to project below thepmouth so as to provide downwardly projecting fingers 21 which readily enter the mouth of a sack and assist 1n opening it-when the sack is being placed upon the spout.' These ribs and fingers prevent the Hour or other substance being praocked into the sack by the `rotary packer In whirlingaround in ,the sack, which whirling in the old machines causes the substance to ll up the space between the outside of the spoutand'thewalls of the sack orv receptacle faster than the main body and thus produce boiling?? When the platform is raised by the counter-balance, the mouth of the sack is opened by the iin ers and ribs and the sack is held expanded y the latter which project from the exterior of the spout 1n suchmanner that ducts22 (Fig. 13) are formed between the ut and the sack which permit the outow o air when flour or other substance is being packed into the sack and the iniow of airwhen the sack Jis being tlnved from the spout after having been Supported vertically by bearings 23 at the to of the frame is a shaft 24 which is provi ed .with a bevel gear 25 in mesh with which is a bevel gear 26 on a shaft 27 that 1s supported horizontally by bearings 28 secured to the top of the frame. Loosely mounted on the horizontal shaft is a driving pulley` 29 which is adapted to be connected with the shaft by means of a clutch 30. This clutch is designed to be actuated for connecting and disconnecting the driving pulley and the horizontal shaft by a. lever 31 that is pivoted to the top of the frame Aand that 1s swung back and forth by a toggle 32 which is opened and closed 'by a rod 33. This rod is raised by a spring 34 and is drawn down by the foot treadle with which the rpd is connected by a cha-in 35.v When the treadle is depressed, the rod is drawn down, the toggle vstraightened and the clutch leve'r moved sidewise. so as to cause the clutch to connect the horizontal shaft and the driving pulley, then of course by this mechanism the vertical shaft is rotated. The chain which connects the clutch rod with the treadle is so connected with a rocker arm 36A that it tends to pull the lower end of the rod sidewise when drawn downward.` Near the lower end the rod is provided with a shoulder 37 which when engaged with a lug 38 on the frame holds the rod inits lowest position. Adjustably attached to the platform gate is an arm 39 provided with a roll 40, which roll when the gate reaches the lowest desired position, engages the shoulder and pushes the lower end of the r'od so as to disengage the shoulder from the catch lug and allow the sprin to draw the rod up and bend the toggle an so swing the clutch lever that the clutch disconnects the horizontal shaft and the driving pulley. i

Attached to the lower end of the vertical shaft is a shaft 41'provided with'a spiral or worm conveyer 42 and a feed or packing screw 43. When the clutch is thrown in and the vertical shaft is rotated, the worm conveys the flour orother substance down through the spout and the screw ejects it therefrom and packs it solidly into the sack or other receptacle on the platform beneath. As the flour is packed in the sack by this means the platform is forced downwardly until the sack is filled to the desired level, the counter-balance weight and friction being adjusted to permit this. As the sack becomes full the roll on the arm attached to the gate engages the shoulder on the clutch rod and causes .the clutchto release the driving mechanism and stop the rotation of the conveyer and packing screw. Then the friction band is released from the friction pulley by lifting the friction lever and the Weight ofthel platform and the iour in the sack being suicieut, the

platform and the sack descend from .the packing apparatus so thatthe packed sack can be removed. If desired, the platform could be stationary'and the packingl spout be made movable "for the purpose 'of permitting the removal ofa packed sack.

Such substances yas flour carry a rather large 'quantity of air as they iiow dowli through a packer, and as the substances are packed into the sack solidly, this air is expelled. `ln the prior machines of this type now iii use. as Vthe substance is packed in the sack the air that is expelled escapes around the outside" of the packing spout and in thus escaping carries light particles of the substauce'iip aroundthe outside of the'sput,

as indicated in Fig. 5. This space around the' spout is thus illed faster than the main body of the sack, and when it becomes full the sub'- stance overiows .or .as it is -termed boils out, as illustrated in Fig. 6, and becomes wasted, unless it is gathered from the floor, which is an uncleanly act and which takes time and labor. Furthermore, when the sack is dropped from the packing spout of the prior machine, the substance in the space about the spout forms a packing and suction results which causes the sides of the sack to collapse so that it closes against. and clings to the spout with the result that the Isack drops slowly and the substance in the space above collapsed portion is drawn up as the sack descends and overliows its lmouth as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8. Under these conditions the descent of the filled sack is slow and quitea little of the substance overflows or as it is termed uifsout and is wasted, as all of the substance between the outside of 4 the spout aud the walls of the sack above the collapsed or contracted portionis drawn out as the sack and packing spout are separated.

In a packing machine provided with the form of my improvement already described, the air which is expelled from the iniiowing substance as it is packed, from the beginning,

y as is indicated in Fig. 9', can flow upwardly scribed is lowered from the packin through the airducts between the ribs onthe outside of the. packing spout, which ribs, as

has been stated, provide ample space for the' free escape of the air and prevent the subthe ribs on the outside of the packing spout,

as indicated in Figs. 11 and 12, and relieves escasa the suction. In no case can the walls of a sack with this form of-nacking spout col spout.

1n the form shown in Figs. 4 and 14 the lducts 44 for the outflow of expelled air when the sack is packed are produced by corrugatin'g the packing spout 45. y It is preferred to corrugate the spout from head to mouth as illustrated, and insert a thimble 46 in the vlower end to provide a cylindrical mouth of substantially the diameter of the packing screw. In this for-m of apparatus air ducts are provided on lthe exterior of the packing spout which permit the outiow and iniow of aii and prevent the collapse of the sack closely against the walls ofthe filling spout, and the shape of the spout preventsthe turning ofl the flour on the outside, :and f also tends to hold it from turning on the inside andv thereby becomin caked and turning around with the fee worm without advancing. I

The invention claimed is:

1. A acking machine having a packing spout` with a li`1on-pcrforated wall and open only at top and bottom, means for forcing substance from the spout, and air ducts formed on the exterior of the spout from top to bottom, substantially as specified.

2. A packing machine having a packing spout witha non-perforated wall and open only at top and bottom, a worm -for advancing substance inthe spout, a screw for forcing substance from the spout, and air ducts formed on the exterior of the spout from top to bottom, substantially as specified.

3., A acking machine having a packing spout, ribs extending longitudinally on the exterior of the spout, and means for forcing 'substance from the spout, substantially as specified.4

4. A packing machine having a acking spout, lingers projecting downward y from the mouth of the spout, and means for forcing substance from the spout and between the fingers, substantially as specified.

5. A acking machine having a packing spout, ribs extending lon 'tudinally on the exterior of the spout, gers projecting downwardly below the mouth of the spout and means for forcing substance'from the spout between the fingers, substantially as specified.

6. A packing machine having a packing spout, ribs extending longitudinally on the exterior of the spout, some of said ribs projecting beyond the end of the spout and forming fingers below the mouth thereof,

and means for forcing'. substance from thet spout and between 'said fingers, substantially as specified. y i

7.. A packing machine having a packing spout wlth a single solid wall shaped to provide longitudinally extendingair ducts on its exterior, and means for forcing .sub- 'stance from the spout, substantially as specified.

8. A packing machine having a packing spoutprovided` with longitudinally extending projections arranged to prevent the substance heing packed from moving rtarily in the'receptacle, and rotatory means .-for

. A forcing the substance from the spout into the receptacle, substantially as speclfed,

9. A packing machine having a packing spout with a corrugated avall to provide ducts for the passage of air in and out of 'a receptacle on the outside of the spout, andlmeans for forcing substance from the spout into the receptacle, substantially as speci ed.

10. A packing machine having a packing spout with a corrugated Wall anda tubular mouth and rotatory means located in said spout for forcing substance through the .spout and out the mouth, substantially as specified.

- l11. A packing machine having a packing D. B. WERTIN.,

CHARLES H. S'roRRs. 

